This copy of the Qur'an, calligraphed in an elegant muhaqqaq style, was probably the largest ever produced. The two lines of script, each over a meter long, are from sura LX:2122 ("of the Believer"). Originally, each page included seven lines of script. A double-page would fit perfectly into the gigantic Qur'an stand in stone erected for the mosque of Bibi Khanum in Samarqand, commissioned by Ulugh Beg (13941449), the grandson of Timur, after Timur's death. Its calligrapher was probably the renowned cUmar Aqtac: some sources tell us that he had tried to astonish Timur by writing a Quran so small that it could fit under a signet ring, but, when the sultan was unmoved, cUmar wrote a Quran so large that it had to be brought to Timur on a cart!

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Citation

"Calligraphy attributed to cUmar Aqtac: Fragment from a Qur'an manuscript (1972.279)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1972.279 (October 2006)